Related papers: Extraterrestrial sedimentary rocks on Earth
This concept article discusses the challenges of identifying planetary-origin meteorites of non-igneous composition, primarily of sedimentary origin, distinct from SNC meteorites. The paper reviews evidence on putative sedimentary-origin…
The article provides an open discussion and a critical feedback to the comments of Haack et al. (2015) and emphasizes a significance of the first macroscopic evidence for a candidate meteorite of a new type: planetary-origin meteorite…
The aim of the study was to discover remnants of the 1908 Tunguska meteorite. Main objective of the field studies was identification of exotic rocks, furrows, and penetration funnels reported by the first eyewitnesses, residents of the area…
In order to link infrared observations of dust formed during planet formation in debris disks to mid-infrared spectroscopic data of planetary materials from differentiated terrestrial and asteroidal bodies, we obtained absorption spectra of…
Meteorites provide an important source of information about the formation and composition of asteroids, because the level of accuracy of studies and analyses performed in a laboratory cannot be achieved by any ground or space based…
Extreme debris discs (EDDs) are bright and warm circumstellar dusty structures around main sequence stars. They may represent the outcome of giant collisions occuring in the terrestrial region between large planetesimals or planetary…
The origin of organic compounds detected in meteorites and comets, some of which could serve as precursors of life on Earth, still remains an open question. The aim of the present study is to make one more step in revealing the nature and…
Problem of meteor orbit determination for a given parent body is discussed. Some of the published methods for obtaining meteoroid's orbital elements at the moment of intersecting Earth's orbit on the basis of geometrical variation of parent…
There is an unceasing incoming flux of extraterrestrial materials reaching the Earth's atmosphere. Some of these objects produce luminous columns when they ablate during the hypersonic encounter with air molecules. A few fireballs occur…
High levels of exozodiacal dust are observed around a growing number of main sequence stars. The origin of such dust is not clear, given that it has a short lifetime against both collisions and radiative forces. Even a collisional cascade…
All planets and satellites of our solar system are subject to a continuous rain of material, ranging in size from specks of dust to objects the size of boulders. Upon impact, these objects deposit their kinetic energy into the incident…
Debris disks are exoplanetary systems containing planets, minor bodies (such as asteroids and comets) and debris dust. Unseen planets are presumed to perturb the minor bodies into crossing orbits, generating small dust grains that are…
Prior studies have hypothesized that some polluted white dwarfs record continent-like granitic crust--which is abundant on Earth and perhaps uniquely indicative of plate tectonics. But these inferences derive from only a few elements, none…
Circumstellar debris disks are the extrasolar analogues of the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt. They consist of comets and leftover planetesimals that continuously collide and produce circumstellar dust that can be observed as infrared…
Hydrous minerals are found on the surfaces of asteroids, but their origin is not clear. If their origin is endogenic, the hydrous minerals that were formed in the inner part of a planetesimal (or parent body) should come out on to the…
Chondritic meteorites constitute the most ancient rock record available in the laboratory to study the formation of the solar system and its planets. Detailed investigations of their mineralogy, petrography, chemistry and isotopic…
Bright fireballs or bolides are caused by meteoroids entering the Earth's atmosphere at high speed. On 2013 February 15, a superbolide was observed in the skies near Chelyabinsk, Russia. Such a meteor could be the result of the decay of an…
The bulk chemical compositions of planets are uncertain, even for major elements such as Mg and Si. This is due to the fact that the samples available for study all originate from relatively shallow depths. Comparison of the stable isotope…
Extrasolar planetary host stars are enriched in key planet-building elements. These enrichments have the potential to drastically alter the building blocks available for terrestrial planet formation. Here we report on the combination of…
When extrasolar planets are observed to transit their parent stars, we are granted unprecedented access to their physical properties. It is only for transiting planets that we are permitted direct estimates of the planetary masses and…